Met Gala 2024: The most daring, dazzling and outrageous red carpet looks

It’s fashion’s biggest night, as Hollywood’s most sartorially savvy stars descend on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for this year’s Met Gala.

The theme of this year’s annual fundraiser, “The Garden of Time,” is inspired by a short story of the same name, written by J.G. Ballard in 1962. Fashion’s elite applauded the theme, saying it’s wide open to interpretation and onlookers were treated to plenty of florals, pastel and vintage pieces.

The Met Gala, held annually on the first Monday in May, is a soirée to raise money for the Costume Institute, the museum’s collection of fashion objects. Each year a different theme honours a designer, style or look.

This year’s museum exhibit, which the stars will tour Monday evening, is called Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. But we’re not talking fairy tales or Disney princesses.

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It includes 250 items from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, including some garments very rarely seen in public and so fragile they need to be under glass. Curators wanted to engage all the senses, including that of smell. They even worked with a “smell artist” — and there’s a garment that actually grows. Part of the idea is to pay tribute to the natural world.

Aside from the red carpet, which attracts attention worldwide, it’s an event shrouded in secrecy. Once invitees head inside, there are strict rules around cellphones and social media, which adds to the allure; the public gets minimal glimpses of what really transpires among the A-listers who attend.

Anna Wintour, a Met trustee for whom part of the institute has been renamed, organizes the whole shebang. And this year she’s invited a notable list of co-chairs, including Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth.

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The real fun of the Met Gala, at least for non-attendees, is judging the fashion of all of Hollywood’s biggest celebs. So, let’s do just that. Keep scrolling for a roundup of some of the most fun, elegant and outrageous looks of the night.